IADC/SPE

lADC/SPE 19923
Compressive Loading Casing Design
E.M. Kooian and R.N. Mefford,Exxon Co. U.S.A.,and i-.B.
Hilbert
and IA. Kalll,
Exxon ProductionResearch Co.
SPE Members

Copyright 19S0, lAOC/SPE DrlllI.ig Conference.

This paper wm prepared for praaenfatlon t the f 9S9 !AWSPE

Dr:lllng C $Iferenoe held In Hwafon, Texem February 27-March 2,1990.

7hla paper wea aeleofed for preaentaticn by an lADC/SPE Program Cernmlffea folbwlng rof Ifrformetkm oon!alned In n ebafrti aubmifted by the wfhofto). (W t%,.taof the
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ABSTRACT

As 1isted in Figure 1, a variety of sources

combine to contribute to the overal1 compressive
1oad. One of the major sources is derived from
the combined tensile loads imposed by the inner
strings 1anded in the wel1head. Liners hung off
below the outer string cement top, do not contribute to the tensile load and can therefore be
neglected. The weight of the wellhead sections
and BOPS stacked on top of the surface casing must
i&ol be considered although the 1oad is relatively
.

This paper provides compressive loading design

guidelines for the provision of safe, economic
casing for any type of onshore wel1. Compressive
loading design is analyzed by looking at the
nature of compressive loads, casing compressive
failure mechanisins,and load distribution. Field
data verifying such analysis is presented.
Lastly, recommended procedures and design factors
are offered to reach a final design.

In addition to the above, the landed tensile loads

are affected by mud weight~ temperature~ and
;;~ssue~lchanges experienced during the life of
To counter these, stability calculations ma; indicate additional tensile loading is
required when an individual string is initially
landed. This overpull must be included in summing
all loads.

INTRODUCTI~

A compressiveloading failure can result in severe

subsidence of
the wellhead, circumferential
bulging of the near surface tubulars, and collapse
or buckling of the inner strings. While an
abundance of industry literature exists for
offshore pile and conductor compressive loading
design, very little has been published for onshore
locations. Historically, compressive loading has
not been a majo? concern. In fact, it is often
neglected, except in extremely deep wells.
Because of the differences in the environment and
load constraintsbetween offshore and onshore, and
the everw~i~heasi;~l;rendtowards deep, expensive
wel1s
experience
tenhigh
sile/compressiveloading in the wellhead, design
fui:~lines need to be established for land loca.

Even if no stability overpull is placed on a

string, additional tension may still be generated
with time. As shown in Figure 2, tension can be
affected by changes in external pressure. A
common example of this is the tension increase as
the annulus mud weight decreases with time.1 If
external pressure decreases, the resulting #ncrease in tension is defined by the following
formulazderived from Hookes law:

AFa =0.471

Another increase in tensile loading on a string

can occur later if a change in internal ressure
occurs as shown in Figure 3. Host commonry, this
develops when mud weight must be increased during

CASINGCiX4PRESSIVELOADS
Before a design procedure can be prepared, one
of surface
must first look at the origination

compressive forces

(1)

Dz Ape

drilling

to adequately understand the

aftw

t!s

string

is set.

Anotler source

may be a casing ar tubing leak. It internal

pressure incre~ses, the resulting increase in
tension is also defined~ by a derivation of
Hookes lr?c

nature and magnitude of all contributingloads.

Referencesand illustrationsat end of paper.

.
COMPRESSIVE LOADING CASING DFSIGV

AFa -0.471

(2)

dz AP+

Changes in wellbore temperatureover the well life

can also affect tensile loading. A large decrease
in temperature may result in a significant increase in tension as the casing contracts. An
example would be a fracture or acid stimulation
workover with a cold fluid. This force can be
definedz by:

AFa

(3)

-58.8 W AT

In summary, all of the above forces contribute to

the compressive load on the surface casing and/w
conductor.
CASING COMPRESSIVE FAILURE HECHANISHS
.Casingmay fail due to excessive compressive loads
or strains in several modes:

Casing material yield

Columnar or Euler buckling of

section of casing

shown in Figure 5.

IAOC/SPE 19923

Fortunately, for the classes

of steels used in most conductor and surface

casing designs, the yield stress of the steel in
compression and in tens~h~sis, For all practical
for casir,g design
purposes, identical.
purposes, the minimum tensi1~yield strength as
specified in API Standard 5CT4 can be used as an
accurate approximation of the compressive yield
strength.
When casing is subjected to sufficiently large
axial compression,and the casing is not laterally
suppwted by cement or by the wellbore, it may
deflect laterally, or buckle. Since casing is
generally confined within a cylindrical bore and
has little or no resistwce to bending, the
post-buckled geometry is helical. This type of
buckling may occur due to applied compression
(i.e., S1acking off weight from the surface), due
to an increase in internal pr~ssure, or due to
increased compressive strains when the wellbore
fluid tempf.ratureincreases. In addition, such
buckling often occurs at loads well below the
casing yield stress.

joint or

Cross-sectionalbuckling (i.e., a circumferential bulge)

Casing material fracture or splitting

Shear or fracture of connectionthreads

The mode of compressive failure may be one or a

combinationof the above mechanisms, depending on
the loading mechanism (strain or load controlled
loading), the load magnitude, and the casin9
material properties. Casing design is the process
of determining the casing size, wall thickness,
and material strength required to prevent failure.
Therefore, knowledge of the failure mechanism and
a means of quantifying the failure load are
importantfactors in casing design.
Although yield of casing material may not be
recognizedas a catastrophicfailure,yield of the
material in a threaded connection may result in a
loss of pressure integrity or a reduction in the
tensile strength of the casing. The axial conpressive load required to yield the cross section
of the casing pipe-body or the minimum cross
section in a threaded connection is usually
understoodto be the compressiveyield load of the
casing. Calculation of the load is simple, since
it involves merely calculating the product of the
cross-sectional area and the compressive yield
strengthof the casing. However, the compressive
yield stress may not be so simply determined. It
cannot always be assumed that the material behaves
identicallyin compressionand in tension.
For example, many corrosion-resistantal10Y (CRA)
casing materials used in deep, high-temperature,
high-pressure,sour gas wells exhibit a significant Bauschinger effect, in which the tension and
compression strengths are quite different.$ An
example is shown in Figure 4. Also, a casing steel
may exhibit significantyield-point behavior in a
tensile test, but none in a compression test, as

There are a considerable number of published

studies of casing helical buckling. The methods
used to calculate the buckling loads can be
complicated. This type of buckling is most
applicale to production and protective casing
strings, in which there may be a considerable
length of non-supported casing above the top of
cement. Conductor and surface strings are in most
cases cemented to the surface, and thus are not
allowed to deflect laterally (unless there is a
significantportion of washed out hole or cement).
klhencasing is laterally confined by cement or the
wellbore and is subjected to large compressive
strains, it is not allowed to relieve the compression deformation by laterally buckling into a
yield,
helical shape. Instead, the casing will
and under continued compressive de: Vmation, the
casing pipe wall will buckle int~ a localized,
Continued compressive
circumferential bulge.
deformationmay result in a fracture in the pipe
body as the bulge deforms around a threaded
connection, since the bulge forms near the connection due to local radial deformationsresulting
from makeup. This type of failure occurs under
large axial compressive deformation caused by
formationcompaction,permafrostthaws, or general
subsidence.
Casing failure due to fracture occurs when the
casing steel actually parts or separates. Fracture generally occurs in ductile steels after the
yield stress is exceeded, and is usually associated with high tension loads or stresses. In
compression, fracture generally occurs as a
secondary failure mechanism subsequent to extreme
material deformation. If the connection thread
width or height is insufficient to support the
compressive load, the threads will shear off and
the pin will telescope into the coupling or box.
In some other cases, a connection may permit
sufficientradial deformation that results in the
pin and coupling threads.riding over one another
causing jump-in of the connection. In extreme
cases, theeasing body may fracture in the tensile

.
IADC/SPE 19923

E. H. KOCIAN, R. N. MEFFORD, L. B. HILBERT, 1. A. KALIL

of Hookes Law for the case where the underlying

cement is not considered to contribute support and
shows that the ratio of the casings cross-sectional areas is equal to the ratio of the distribution of load. For example, a conductor casing
with a 4:1 ratio of cross-sectionalarea to the
~urface casing, theoreticallywould be designed to
support 80% of the compressiveload.

ortion of a bend due to localized cross-sectional

~uckling or columnar buckling.
It should be noted that the connections between
joints of casing have an important role i? the
compressive failure mode. As mentioned above,
jump-in can occur. In many cases, large diameter
conductor casing .Iointsare welded together~ or
weld-on connections used. Usually, low-carbon,
line-pipetype casing steels are used that provide
a weld that is as strong as tie pipe body. In
fact, the weld may be stronger than the pipe
simply because the weld has material properties
greater than the pipe. On the other hand, higher
carbon-content steels, such as N-80 and P-11O,
generally have lower strength welds due to problems associated with welding on these tyoes of
materials (i.e., the heat affected zone around the
weld has lower strength, or the weld material may
be weaker than the pipe material).

The second support mechanism, cement compression,

may only be considered when a bas~ plate is used
to transmit load. Very often cement between the
surface and conductor casing is placed to be in
contact with the base plate, thus providing an
additional shoulder to suFport compressive load.
To ca!culate the contribution of the cement in
this scenario,Hookes law is solved a second time
by utilizing a modulus of elasticity for the
cement. Appendix B documents the calculation for
this case. The contribution of the cement may be
initially significant because, despite its relatively low stiffness,the contact surface area may
be large.

LOAD DISTRIBUTIONCONSIDERATIONS
Once the calculation of the maximum anticipated
compressive load is completed, the design of a
wellhead support system can begin. The wellhead
support.system is designed based on the compressive load distribution. Four aspects need to be
1) casing compression,
considered, notably:
2) cement compression,3) cement bond, and 4) soil
shear. The first two aspects, casing and cement
compression,represent the capacity of the system
components to resist applied compressive load.
The final two aspects, cement bond and soil shear,
representthe ability to transfer the applied load
into surroundingmembers and/or surroundingsoil.

The compressive strength of the cement used will

also influence its contribution as J secondary
support member. Even if the cement yields in its
secondary support role, it may be assumed to
contributeto the overall compressive load capacity because, even at yield, it is confined by the
casings present on either side. However, due to
its low relative stiffness it may be prudent to
ignore the compressive support of cement and
assume that the casings must bear the total load.
The third aspect of system design is cement bond
which is independent ~f the compressive support
mechanisms. Cement =wfd strength is the primary
method of vertical load transfer and casing
support. End bearing support can typically be
ignored because, for normal casing strings, it is
only a small contributor.The cement bnnd strength
is a calculationof the shear resistancedeveloped
between the casing and the surroundingcement and
is consideredto be a function of the contact area
and strength of the cement. Cement bond strength
is equivalent to approximately 10% of the compressive strength.e

Casing compression is achieved through the distribution of wellhead loads to the casing string
to which the first wellhead section is attached as
shown in Figure 6. The primary casing string is
usually designated surface casing and the first
wellhead section, or A-Section, is either welded
or screwed onto the top joint. The first design
calculation involves comparing the total worst
case anticipated compressive load to the connection rating and the yield strength of the size of
casing desired. The casing size is typically
governed by the drift diameter that will accommodate the desired bit size for drilling the next
section of hole.

If the desired casing cannot be located with

additional
sufficient compressive strength,
compressive support components must be designed.
The most common second step is to order the
A-Sectionwith a base plate or landing base. The
base plate is used as a vehicle to distribute
compressive load to a member other than the
surface casing string as shown in Figure 7. The
most common secondarymember is the previously set
initial casing string designated conductor
casing, although some of the load may be distributed into cement underlying the base plate.
The load distribution between the different
members is largely governed by stiffness and may
be simplistically estimated by application of
Hookes Law. Appendix A documents the derivation

For example, assume 200 feet of 20-inch casing is

cemented to surface with cement having a compressive strength of 3000 psi. Assuming full contact,
the resulting shear restrainingforce is 4.5 x 107
lbs. It is obvious from this example calculation
that cement bond capacity is typically not the
governing factor in a wellhead support system.
Cement/soil bonding will be greater than cement/casing bonding based on the greater surface
area available and assuming similar contact
efficiency.
The last support system to be considered is soil
shear capacity. This represents the ability of
the surrounding soil to diffuse compressive load
from the casing through shear transfer and hence,
reduce the compressive load as the depth below
ground increases.
The soil shear capacity is a function of the
cement/soilsurface area and the soil shear value.

a.-

.
COMPRESSIVELOADING CASING DESIGN

The soil shear capacity is related to the type of

soil and the soil properties. For sands, the
shear value is related to the overburden pressure
and the angle of friction. For clays, the shear
value is related to the undrained shear strength.
Undrained soil shear values can range from 25
lbs/ft for very soft clay to 4000 lbs/ft for hard
clay. Because the variability in the properties
of shallow soils is high, an assumption of shear
capacity based on surface conditions is often
erroneous. The most accurate method of detenining a wellsite soil shear capacity is with a soil
boring.

IADC/SPE 19923

Setting of 7-inch 00 by 5-1/2-inch OD production casing

During each of the three casing running operations, the strain ga e data was collected iasaediately after the hoo[ weight was slacitedoff and
again some eight to ten hours later. The-data-was
then reduced to indicate an average load supported
by the 30-inch conductor pipe and swsnarized in
Table 1.
The Table 1 data indicates that, with each successive string hung, the support offered by the
conductor pipe is asymptoticallyapproaching some
,naximumpercentage of the total string weight
landed in the wellhead as shown in Figure 9. The
compressiveload supported by the 30-inch conductor pipe increased from 53%, or 611 kips of the
1,160 kips landed in the A-section for the
12-1/16-inchcasing, to 71%, or 532 kips of the
747 kips landed in the C-Section for the 7-inch x
5-1/2-inch production casing. Total load supported by the 30-inch casing through a sunsnation
of the incrementalmeasure-lloads is 1663 kips out
of a total wellhead load of 2647 kips (63%). The
remaining984 kips of load would then be logically
supported by the cement underlying the base plate
and the 16-inch casing.

Soil borings are common to the offshore oilfield

structures industry and the onshore construction
industry, but not the onshore drilling industry.
A conductor, or surface casing compressive load
capacity curve can be generated from evaluationof
actual field soil properties. An example of this
is provided later in this paper. AS a sidenote,
these same soil borings can be used to develop
soil bearing capacity for designing drflling rig
foundations.
A destgn factor should be incorporated into the
design procedure to account for tolerances and
inconsistenciesassociatedwith the support system
components. A 1.33 casing compression design
fat or is often used to derate the cotipressive
yield of casing based on API wall tolerance and
potentialwear. No factor is typically associated
with cement compression or bond strength due to
reasons previouslydiscussed. A soil shear factor
of 1.5 to 2.0 is the common industry practice to
account for uncertainty associated with soil
properties and, when applicable, to limit deformations to acceptablevalues.

Solving Hookes Law to determine the distribution

of the 2647 kip compressive load results in 1615
kips (61% of total load) on the 30-inch, 744 kips
(28%) on the cement between the 30-inch and 16inch, and 288 kips (11%) on the 16-inch. The
strain gage data therefore compares favorablywith
the design theory and calculations. The intent of
the wellhead support system to distribute load
without failing critical members also appears to
be substantiated.

CONPARISONOF FIELD DATA TO LOADING PREDICTION

DESIGN PROCEDURE
In January 1989, Exxon instrumented the 30-inch
conductor pipe on an ultra-deep sour gas well to
determine the effectiveness of the landing-base
design. In theory, the weight of the casing
strings hung off in the wellhead would be transferred from the A-section to the 16-inch surface
casing string, the 30-inch conductor casing, and
the cement between the two, via the landing base.

This design procedure provides step-by-step

compressive loading design guidelines for the
provision of safe, economic tubulars. Burst,
collapse, and tensile design considerationswill
not be addressed in this paper. The design
factors used in the design process are values
frequently employed, but should not to be construed as industry standards which may widely
vary.

To verify thi~t the conductor pipe would share in

supportingthe compressive loads, Exxon installed
strain gages on the conductor pipe exposed surface
and gathered geometrical and dimensional data.
The dimensional data was needed to determine any
pipe ovality, wall eccentricity, and possible
load-axis misalignment. T;;d orientation of the
sites for data
strain gage locations
collection, referenced to geographic North, are
shown in Figure 8.
Strain gage data was collected and analyzed on
three separate occasions. These included the
fol1owing:

Setting of 12-1/16-inch

OD protectivecasing

Setting of 9-7/8-inchOD protectivecasing

To illustrate the design procedure, consider an

example well with the data provided in Tables 2
through 7 and Figures 10 and 11.
STEP 1:

I
I
I

I
. .Mu

Calculate the total compressiveload due

to the hanging weight of the tubulars
hung off in the wellhead plus the
stabiiity overpull required.
From Table 2, the total load is 2635
kips.

STEP 2:

Calculate additional loads due to

changes in internal and external pressure, and temperature versus initial
casing settin conditions. Also include
weight ofwel ?head sections and BOPS.

IADC/SPE 19923

E. H. KOCIAN, R. N. t4EFFOR0,L. B. HILBERT, 1, A. KALIL

From Table 3, the additionalload is 165

kiPS .
STEP 3:

STEP 4:

STEP 10: Design a landing base that can transfer

the required loads from the surface to
the conductor casing.

Sum the tubular loads and the additional

loads.
TOTAL LOADS (WORST CASE~

iS

A landing base with a minimum rating of

3700 kips would be required to transfer
the 1848 kips of compressive load from
the surface casing to the conductorwith
a 2.0 design factor. The 2.0 design
factor is assumed to account for any
deficiencies in the load bearing welds.

2800 kips.

Select a surface casing size to drift

the desired bit size.
In this example, a 14-3/4-inchhole size
is desired to run the n-3/4-inch
casing. The available 16-inch surface
casing is shown in Table 4.

STEP 5:

STEP 11:

Compare joint strength of the available

surface casing to the total load calcu1ated in Step 3.

Select a conductor casing size to drift

the desired bit size.

In this example, a 20-inch hole size is

desired to run the 16-inch casing. The
available conductor casing is shown in
Table 5.
STEP 7:

Note in the tubular design that no contribution from the cement under the
1anding base was assumed to help support
the wellhead system. A cement with a
compressive strength of 3000 psi and a
1anding base/cement surface area of 205
inz (22.75-inchx 16-inch),would result
in the cement shoulderinga total of 615
kips prior to yielding.

Compare the joint strength of the

available conductor casing to the total
1oad calculated in Step 3.
None of the 24-inch casing available
will support all of the 2800 kips of
;~~re~sive load with a 1.33 design

STEP 8:

Cement with high early strength and

minimal shrinkage should be specifiedto
assure an effective soil-cement and
cement-casing bond as soon as possible
after cement placement. U=? standard
industry cementing practices to achieve
good mud displacement.

Perfo.7n a
combination analysis to
determine if the 16-inch x 24-inch
combination will adequately support the
total load calculated in Step 3.
From Table 6, the third listed combination is the lowest cost design with
adequate strength.

STEP 9:

Design the cement required to transfer

the compressive loads into surrounding
suppc. members and/or surroundingsoil.
The 270 feet of 24-inch conductor casing
has a surface area of 1696 ftz or 244 k
inz to support 1848 kips of compressive
load. Assuming full cement contact, a
cement compressive strength of only 152
psi would be required to support the
casing with a 2.0 design factor. The
180 feet of 16-inch surface casing below
the conductor casing has a surface area
of 757 ftz or 109 k inz to support 952
kips of compressiveload. Assuming full
cement contact, a compressive strength
of 175 psi would be required to support
the casing with a 2.0 design factor.

None of the 16-inch casing available

will support the 2800 kips of compressive load with a 1.33 design factor.
Therefore, select a conductor casing
that can offset a portion of the load
through use of a landing base.
STEP 6:

STEP 12: Summarize design.

See Table 7 for summary considering
compressive loading only.

Evaluate soil boring data to determine

minimum depths to set surface and
conductor casing.

CONCLUSION

From Figures 10 and 11, minimum depth of

24-inch conductor in a 30-inch hole is
270 feet to maintain a 2.0 design factor
in supporting 1848 kips of compressive
load. 14inimumdepth of 16-inch surface
casing in a 20-inch hole is 450 feet to
maintain a 2.0 design factor in supporting 952 kips of compressive load.
Any casing run deeper than the minimum
depths is no longer goverriedby compressive loading design assuming that
full cement coverage of minimum depths
has been achieved.

The field data gathered on instrumentedconductor

casing closely corroborates with loading prediction achieved through the design theory, thus
substantiatingthe design accuracy. In general,
the above design procedure can be used to obtain
safe, economic tubulars for land wells with regard
to compressive loading. Of course, individual
landing-basedesigns should be verified as suitable for the load rating prior to their application in the field.

---

.
IADC/SPE 19923

COMPRESSIVELOADING CASING DESIGN

NOMENCLATURE

6)

Smith, D. K.: Cementing, SPE Monograph

Series, Second Edition, 1976,

7)

Popov, E. P.: Mechanics of

Second Edition, 1952.

A = Area
d -Casing inside diamater

Materials,

D = Casing nominal diameter

A = Deformation
AFa = Change in axial force
Ape = Change in external pressure

Apt = Change in internal pressure

AT = Change in temperature
E = Elastic modulus
L = Length

APPENDIXA
DERIVATION OF HOOKES LAW FOR DISTRI~IU
COMPRESSIVELOAD BEIUEEN CASINGS

OF

For axially loaded rods, the total deformation

between two given points (A and B) is7
A.

B(jA=
/ A

8 p(x)
A A(x)

dx
E

(A-1)

For a tubular of constant cross-sectional area

with length L, a constant load P, and one fixed
and one free end, the deformationequation becomes

P = Force

A=
Pt = Total force
PC = Force on conductor casing
Ps = Force on surface casing
Pcmt = Force on cement
u =

Stress

w = Casing weight per foot

L
m-

Assuming the base plate is in simultaneouscontact

with both the conductor and surface casing, and
that the bottom of each casing is immobile,

Ac = As
and therefore,
Pc Lc

As Es

Ac Ec
ACKNDMLEDGEMENTS
The Authors wish to express their appreciationto
Exxon Company, U.S.A. and Exxon Production Research Company for permitting the publication of
this paper.
Individual ack~;owledgementsare
accordedto M. J. Morrison and D. J. Broussardwho
contributedto the developmentand verificationof
this well design technique.
REFERENCES
1)

2)

3)

Cooke, C. E., Kluck, hi.P., and Hedrano, R.:

Annular Pressure and Temperature MeasureOperations,
Cementing
ments
Diagnose
IADC/SPE Paper 11416, February 1983.
Bourgoyne,A. T., Millheim, K. K., Chenevert,
M. E., and Young, F. S.: Applied Drilling
Engineering,First Edition, 1986.
~ie~er, G. E., Jr.: MechanicalMetallurgy,
.

4)

API Specification 5CT: Specification for

Casing and Tubing, American Petroleum Institute, March 15, 1988.

5)

Hirshberg, A. J., Moyer, M. C., Rickenbach,

R. M.: Surface Casing Strain Capacity for
North Slope Operations, SPE Drilling Engineering, September 1988.

Ps Ls

Unlike two independentsprings, both the conductor

and surface casings are concentricallycemented,
and therefore, compressive load is assumed to be
distributedalong an equivalent length (or depth)
of each string. Thus,
Lc= Ls
Additionally, Loth the conductor and surface
casings are manufactured from carbon steel and
thus have the same modulus of elasticity,so

Ec= Es
The remainingequation becomes
Pc=P&

Ac
As
or
Pc
=
Ps

Ac
As

Ac and As can be calculated for selected casings,

and the maximum load, Pt, is equal to Pc + Ps.
Thus two equations with two unknowns can be solved
for Pc and Ps.

..-

1
IADC/SPE 19923

E. M. KOC14N, R. N. MEFFORO, L. 8. HILBERT, 1. A. KALIL

.
Substituting the elastic moduli for cement and
steel changes the equation to

APPENDIX B
SOLVING lUiUES L/W FOR DISTRIBUTION OF CDNP~ESSIVE LOAD BETUEEN CASIN6S INCLUDING CEMENT UNDERLYING THE BASE PLATE

Pt = UC

Act
[

As+

The total load on the casings and cement, Pt, can

be equated to the sum of all forces,

so
Pt = ac [Ac +A~

Pt = Pc + Ps + Pcmt

Dc =
~]~

~]~

flcm~

Pt
Ac + As + 0.16 Acmt

Then multiply ac by Ac to yield Pc

Isolating the conductor stress and cancellin9

identical values based on the same logic as
applied in Appendix A results in
Pt=oc

+ 0.16 Acmt]

Rearrangethe equation to solve for ~c

Substitutingthe deformation equat!on for Pc, Ps

and Pcmt changes the equation to
t=

(5X 10) Acmt

(30X 10)

Pc = Uc Ac
Solve for Ps and Pcmt in a like manner.
values against Pt by

(EA)cmt
Ac+As+..
Ec
[

Pt = Pc + Ps + P~mt

TABLE I
COMPRESSIVE LOAD SUPPORTED BY 30-INCH CONDUCTOR PIPE

STRING

LOAD SUPPORTED
BY CONDUCTOR

STRING
HOOK WEIGHT

INCREMENTAL
SUP~ORT

TOTAL
SUPPORT

(kips)

(kips)

1160

611

53

53

9-7/8-inch

740

520

70

60

7-inch x 5-1/2-inch

747

532

71

63

2647

1663

12-1/16-inch

TOTAL

._J&L_

TABLE 2
TUBULAR LOADS (SUSPENDEDIN WELLHEAD)

CSG SIZE
WEIGHT
-Q!!l-Q@_~u

MU SET IN

DEPTH

BUOYED WEIGHT
(kips)

STABILITY
OVERPULL TOTAL LOAD
m_-.@i@-

11-3/4

60

10.0

15000

765

150

915

9-5/8

47

12.5

17500

665

100

775

41

15.0

20000

635

100

735

12.95

10.5

19500

210

3-1/2

TOTAL.................*.....*...........................4.*......

210
2635

NOTE: No change in buoyed weight due to as cemented conditionswas

considered. Use air weight oftub{ng if latched into a packer.
r

4=.
101

Verify

.,

TAME 3
ACOITIONALLMOS (KNKT CASE)

ITEH
Changes In internal
Temperature Qffects
Weight

of wellhead,

pressure (stlmulat!on)
(stimulation)

...............

50

.. ... .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .

100

......................................

&

TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

165

TABLE 4
AVAILABLE

JOINT STREN~ffsWITH
v)

THREAO

GRAOE

HEIGHT
M!&.

SURfACECASM

16-INCH

1.33

OF

COST
Q&l

75

K-55

STC

565

31

84

K-55

STC

650

33

84

N-80

Butt

1427

45

TA3LE 5
AVAILABLE24-INCH C~

CASIfK

THREAO

X-56

He14ed

171

Mel dad

1326

76

171

X-56

Uelded

2122

80

156

JOINT STRENG~slilTH

1.33

COST
MM

GRAOE

NEWT
f)?lw_.

OF

1932

61

TABLE6
COH61NATI~ ANALYSIS

X~W~T
16- INCH
SURFACE CSG -

AREA RATIO
16- INCH/24 -lNCH
(%)

xi&T
24-INCH
C~~CToR
CSG

mm

K, STC

21.4

156,

X-56,

45.9

32/68

896/1904

84 ppf,

K, STC

24.1

156,

X-56,

4s.9

34/66

952/1848

84 ppf,

N, Butt

24.1

156,

X-56,

45.9

34/66

952/1848

84 ppf,

N, Butt

24.1

171,

B, W

50.4

32/68

896f1904

84 ppf,

N, Butt

24.1

171,

X-56,

50.4

31/53

896/1904

Load ratio

fs calculated

by multiplying

total

TAM
OESION-Y

COf4BI~T#)N

7S ppf,

NOTE:

LOAO RATIO
16- INC~{2~-lNCH
rJ)

CSG
SIZE
24
16.

GRAOE
.

156
.

64

(2800

k{ ps)

times

araa

6ASE0 W CU4PRESSNELWf REflUIRE%ENTS

HEIGHT
Qlm

-M!)_

load

___

CONN

HIM.
OEPTH
m

HOLE ~;l

X-56

tislded

270

30

N-BO

6utt

460

20

162

IN

ratto

percent.

OX?

,.

CONOUCTOR

SURFACE

IMTERMEOIATE

TENSILE LOAOSF~M
[EXCLUOE LINERS)

ANOBOPEQUl~ENT
INNER CASING STRINGS

TENSILE LOAD FROM~DUCTIONTUSING

TENSILE LOAOFROM STABILIWOVERWLL

WEIGHT OF%LLHEAD

TENSILE LOADS FROM CHANGES IN EXTERNAL

ANO INTERNAL PRESSURES

c TENSILE LOADS FROM CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE

LINER

TUBING

ONGATION

Pi

ONGATION
/

1
1
I

I
8

t
I
I
I
I

1
t
I
1
1
I
I
1:
t
I
t
II
1

I
I
I
1

P*

I
I
I
1
I

I
I
1
t

1
I
I
I
I
I
I

I
I

,
I
I

$
I
I
1

----r
---

80,000

I
1
1
I
I
I

,,

1
t
t
t
1
I
t

1
t

I
I
1
I
I
I
a
I
:

A lncr@wo In Intti

TENSILE

STRAIN,

INIIN

RowS.

60,000

affwt

m cm

kmdhw.

STRESS
ml)

In3torisls.
1ss

STRAIN
[lN/IN)

STRAIN
(INIINI

COMPRESSION TEST

TESNILE TEST

cOMPRESSIONTEST

Ba=mw

pfa$surn CM csuso att hcrss8a In t-

TEST

Figuro4.

CONTRACTION

STRESS
ml)

PSI

:
.6

CONTRACTION

F&!ur@3.

STRESS,

Tor@onmd

cwmpm@mtomon8xnwotd

1
A-SECTION

A=L

BASE PLATE

SURFACE

CASING

LO

WEL

ENT

CIONDUCTOR

Figure 6. Surface casing compression

f-

pipE

SURFACEyASING

Figure7. Baseplatedistributes
load

---

30-INCH
CONDUCTOR PIPE

//////////////////////////m

LEGEND
(H.A1 = (HOOP. AXIALI

#1 (H,AI

HE [H,AI

#7 (H,A1

NUM8ER OF STRINGSflUN

#6 (H,AI
#5 iH,Al
SECTION A-A

Figure

8. Orimtatbn

of strain gsfps

_6-

..

.sEE

16-INCH CSG

IN 204NCH

LOAD

NOTES:

l) CURVE

lNCLUDES

2) SURFACE CASING
ON INCREMENTAL

Figure 10.

.19925

HOLE

CAPACITY
(KIPS)

2.OSAFETYFACTOR.
CAPACITY

CURVE

IS BASED

LOAD BELOW 270.

Surface casing capaeitycume.

24-INCH

CSG IN 30-INCH

HOLE

100

..-..,

200
~
u-l

300

I
500

1000

1500

p
2000

LOAD CAPACITY
(KIPS)

NOTE:

1) CURVE INCLUDES

Figure 11.

2.0 SAFETY FACTOR.

Conductor casing capacity curve.

1s8